nztrippin: 06/18/10

Wanaka - Sunset

02.04.2010

Just few meters up from our house to watch another stunning sunset :) nice place to be!!!

and 2 days later ;)

Wanaka - 2nd photo Session - Plantation Trails

24.03.2010

The 2^nd photo session on the trails of Sticky Forest and The Plantation. It's only a 10min bike ride to get there and it's just FANTASTIC!!! :) Easily 50 different trails in all difficulty levels, from hard black ones with big jumps and drops and roadgaps to longer, flowy crosscountry rides with ups and downs... You would have to spend a lot of time discovering all those trails out here. So far we both weren't really able to use all those opportunities :(

btw: we focused on doing “riding shots” as Damien still had some problem with his (according to the Doc infected) arm after a crash few days ago.

Turned out it was actually simply broken... So respect for doing all that with a broken arm!!!!!! That's for sure something not everybody can tell bout himself, to go biking (and climbing :) ) with a broken arm ;)

the way out...

I think I gave Damien a hard time to actually NOT go fast ;)

1^st try with his dslr...

...and that's the 2^nd... I NEED ONE OF THOSE TOO!!!! *sigh*

I could try to blame the situation of only having a front brake (the rear one was still out of order cause of the broken frame)...

...but I think it might be simply missing know-how ;) *get out of my way stupid thorny bush!!!!!* *grrrr*

Thx for that cool session Damien!!! We'll have to do some more in the parks in Europe at some point. Perhaps we can even convince Stephen to come over... To import some Brewskis for afterwards can't be THAT hard! ;)

MTB pest control Wanaka ;)

*hehehe* just thought it'd made sense to put it in here aswell :)

Wanaka - Me, Myself & I

22.03.2010

Thanks Damien for that photo

few mins before I fell (completely stupidly!!) off Damiens bike - while rolling (much too) slowly round the little streetpark few meters away – ripping a nice big hole in my only warm jacket *arrrrrrgh* Needed some mins afterwards as I was already going mad about not being able to do anything for the last weeks because of broken me and broken bike and and and. So far by far the worst time I had on my whole trip (and even in the last few years I'd say), ironically at one of the most stunning places.

By that time Damien didn't know yet that he did actually broke his arm (some days ago), so wasn't too good for him either.

There must be something malign about the air in Wanaka at least for some people...

Wanaka - Strawberry Cake

19.03.2010

The perfect dessert :)

ingredients: a cheap fluffy chocolate cake on sale (it already was packed in those 2 pieces) + some cheap Nutella + some cheap strawberries + some cheap maple syrup + some cheap strawberry ice cream and then use A LOT of each ;)

1^st stage already over (lots of Nutella as “base layer” under the strawberries)

cover it with maple syrup (lots of it of course :) )

use the 2^nd cake piece as lid for the whole thing

already nice but not yet finished :)

cut it...

...in 2 halfs...

...and add a huge amount of ice cream (can't really remember if there was a lot left in the 2l pack, but it's hardly possible ;) )

… finally enjoy it outside while watching The Collective (MTB Film) (or of course something you enjoy more) Can't tell how much calories it had, but I guess the number is a seriously big one :D

Wanaka - Mt Roy Trek

18.03.2010

Mt Roy – 3hs up and 2.5hs down (normally... Seems that I always take double time downwards when walking... wonder why!?!?)

It's a long and windy way up, but still not very interesting, as it's mostly wide enough to get up in a 4WD car :( The view from the top is spectacular and is a nice reward for the climb, still it's not interesting enough for a 2^nd time (despite you take a bike up with u ;) It's really a pity that didn't work out!!! That's on the must do list for the 2^nd visit with that nice helmet cam during sunrise ;) )

if only the path was like that all the way up! That'd be fantastic!! Was only the last few meters to the top actually. Of course better then nothing! :)

View down the other side (seen from Wanaka)

looks great from the top, eh?! ;)

township of Wanaka

the sun was already setting when we started our descend. Was not really necessary that it took sooooo long, but anyway...

Wanaka - Sunset

14.03.2010

was a stunning sunset!!!
there's no color corrections going on this time ;)
the pix are just in front of "out house"

Wanaka - Rob Roy Glacier Trek

08.03.2010

1^st trek after pausing for waaaayyyyy too long was the Rob Roy Glacier, together with Amanda and Damien.

Was more a nice walk as the way itself was not too challenging, but nevertheless it was a really nice day!!! :)

To road out there was a looong gravel road. If the car is still working after the way out and back, u can be sure it won't break down too soon ;)

The fords were at least dry and not flooded...

on the way out we stopped for some pics at this nice camping area...

...and to just hang around a little while :)

carpark and start of the walk up. It's supposed to be round 5h back, if I remember it right

nice to have views like this every once a while

Amanda and Damien on the way up

every step brings us closer to the glacier :)

lot's of waterfalls everywhere...

in the Te Pappa museum in Welly I saw a video about some guys doing base jumps down there. That must be such a stunning thing to do!!!

the setting of it all is just sooo nice

hat's already a bit further then the “official” end of the trek. If a trek ends and it's not yet the the top of the mountain it just doesn't feel right... but after several more meters on paths that were more or less (depends on your imagination ;) ) visible, we decided to turn round. We could have walked there for some more hours I guess, still without reaching something like a summit. Was fun anyway :)